


the world will be silenced

by scharhrot



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Gen, more canon divergence re:turn 32, self indulgence hour is every hour babey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 12:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18476002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scharhrot/pseuds/scharhrot
Summary: satoru is diffrided. that's it that's the story





	the world will be silenced

At first, Satoru is on Earth, fighting Kazumi Onimaru in the second stage of the Under-20. It's his turn, and he's in the middle of drive-checking; if he gets just one more critical, Kazumi is done for. He looks to Kazumi with a scowl, and touches his fingers to his deck, praying internally for a miracle. And then, as their eyes meet, he awakes on an entirely new field.

Satoru's whole body twitches in shock, and he falls backwards, barely catching himself against a wall that was most certainly not there before. He turns, and sees that Kumi is no longer behind him, nowhere to be seen in this church-like hall. And then, he hears a voice.

"I cannot agree to this. Not when I've just found him—I need to confirm something first."

And, another. "Unfortunately, you have no say in this matter. Sonnegrab is falling as we speak, with Scharhrot powerless to stop it. The boy has proven himself useful to me; rejoice, at least, that he'll be an Apostle alongside you, should you fulfill your duties."

The voices aren't too far, and they echo; from a quick observation, Satoru deduces that whoever's talking must be in the next room over, connected to the hallway he's in by an arched opening close to him. The first voice, Satoru suspects, is Kazumi Onimaru; the second is unknown. And then, there is a third.

"Lay a _finger_ on my Vanguard… and you will pay the consequences-- _ngh!_ "

The third voice gasps and wretches in pain after that, but continues. "Gas... _tille!_ "

Satoru holds in a noise of shock, so as to not alert them; regardless of his confusion, he senses the danger of his situation thoroughly. The third voice is… his own, he thinks. He stalks as quietly as possible to the arch at the end of the hallway and hides next to the threshold, peeking in.

The figures speaking are actually further than he thought, their voices amplified by the emptiness of the chamber. It appears to be, as Satoru expected, a cathedral of some sort; a decrepit one, however. Though an unfamiliar place, it felt… intimately nostalgic.

Stained glass of pink, purple, and red hues lit the church in a strange and ominous hue. And, near the altar, were three figures: the first appeared humanoid, if not for a billowing cloak, but Satoru could tell he was anything but human. His hands, lifted in a dramatic sermon of sorts, were all-too-bony, his figure warped in odd, demonic ways. Satoru assumes this must be Gastille.

The second was much larger than the other two, but still miniscule compared to the height of the cathedral's stony ceiling. It has a dragon-like figure, but stands on two legs; Satoru recognizes the silhouette as Kazumi Onimaru's card, the Stealth Dragon, Shiranui.

The third—and, assumedly, the one in pain—was near the first, but in a kneeling position, and in the middle of some sort of glowing light, which seemed to bind him to the floor. Even from the distance of the long aisle between them, Satoru recognizes this one: it's Scharhrot.

"Struggle all you would like," Gastille says, "But it will change nothing. Satoru Enishi will take the role of the Dark Zone Apostle, entrusted with the Zeroth Dragon of the End. And you will inhabit his body, under my and Lord Gyze's command."

Scharhrot tries to lunge for Gastille in anger, but is pulled back to the floor by the magical circle of light below him, a pained and anguished cry escaping him.

"I won't—I won't follow you—I made a promise to Ahsha, to be better, to— _Agh…!"_

A crackle of light sparks from the circle below Scharhrot, and Satoru himself feels the sting of its power. Shiranui looks to Scharhrot with what Satoru assumes is pity, and then speaks.

"Please… just let me see this fight through without your meddling. I've finally found what Antero spoke of, the human potential he _believed in_ —"

"Silence," says Gastille, and the room quiets to only Scharhrot's ragged breaths. "Even if I did want to change my plans to suit your whims, he's already among us. Satoru, that is."

Satoru feels his breath catch in his throat as a sense of dread encompasses him, chilling him, seeming to replace his warm blood with nothing but fear.

"You can come out," says Gastille, and Satoru knows the voice is directed at him. Regardless, his legs refuse to move, frozen in place like lead.

Moments pass, and Gastille chuckles lightly, but it's anything but reassuring. "It appears I phrased that the wrong way. Come here, my disciple; this is an order."

And, despite every instinct Satoru has, every guttural feeling he can muster, his body moves. First to the threshold, so Scharhrot and Shiranui can see him, and then, slowly, down the aisle to where Gastille awaits him.

"Satoru— _no!_ " Scharhrot yells. "Stay away from him—be stronger than him—Imagine yourself not falling for his control! _Imagine_ —" Another crackle sparks beneath him, and he shrieks.

But, his words reach Satoru, who halts halfway between them and the arch he came from. In a ragged, barely-controlled voice, Satoru addresses Gastille. "What have you done… to Scharhrot?"

"Him?" Gastille looks to Scharhrot's anguished form, barely holding itself up. "It's simple. The magic that's binding him is a mana-depleting spell. Anything but a vampire as fed on mana as him would probably be dead already."

Satoru feels rage on a level completely different to what he spat at Kazumi just moments ago. "Let him go," he says, his fear entirely engulfed by the fires of anger.

"Certainly, in a moment I will. I don't intend to kill him, you see," Gastille says in a tone far too playful to fit the mood of the rest of the room. "Vampires, as undead creatures, actually start out with no mana when they are born or turned. He won't die."

Gastille continues, "Rather…"

He points to Satoru, and within a second a circle nearly-identical to the one beneath Scharhrot appears, and chains of light emerge from it, snaking and clasping around Satoru's limbs to bind him, and lower him to a kneel. Satoru goes to speak, but feels his voice entirely muted; and, once again, the overwhelming dread from before sets in.

"Satoru, do you know what happens when a vampire is first born or turned? When they have no mana?" Gastille asks.

" _Gastille_ —" says Shiranui in protest, but he is immediately silenced by a wave of Gastille's hand.

"They crave mana like animals. They'll do anything for it. They go into a complete state of bloodlust, where they kill, and kill, and drain as much mana as they need to feel whole again."

Warmth drips down Satoru's otherwise chilled cheeks, likely tears of trepidation at Gastille's words. Gastille, in all of his eerie terror, smiles at him.

"Don't fret. I don't intend to let him kill you, either. He'll be under my control, so there's no chance of it. You'll simply be suppressed to the far reaches of your mind, just like Kazumi Onimaru is."

Fear defeats any hope of comprehension Satoru could have for Gastille's words, and he feels that even without the magic binding him, he wouldn't be able to move anymore.

"You wanted me to release him, right?" Gastille asks in that irritating and terrifying coy tone. He snaps his fingers. "Here."

The magic binding Scharhrot fades, and at first, the vampire does not move. He reaches for his throat in an almost-choking motion, as though completely parched.

"Go on," Gastille says. "Feed."

Satoru cannot blink before Scharhrot lunges for him, capturing him in an embrace instantly; the chains on Satoru's limbs do not allow him to push the vampire away, though he knows he could not even if he tried.

"Sch--" Satoru whispers, his voice back but chilled by fear, "Scharhrot…"

The monster before him is barely recognizable as his ace; Instead of gold, collected irises meeting Satoru's own aqua eyes, Satoru finds a bloodied and animalistic red.

"Scharhrot… _don't—!_ "

The monster wastes no time in lunging to Satoru's nape and biting, _hard,_ dangerously close to Satoru's jugular.

The scream that leaves Satoru's throat is muffled by Scharhrot's hand which covers Satoru's mouth in what could only be animalistic, murderous instinct.

It's the worst pain Satoru has ever been in—worse than any needles, any bone break, anything his sickly childhood had brought him. More so than the blood which is vigorously spilling from his neck, Satoru feels another force leaving him; mana, he assumes, through the pain.

With Scharhrot buried in his nape, Satoru can see Gastille and Shiranui at the altar; Gastille with a grin of twisted delight, and Shiranui with a grimace.

"Pl--Please…" Satoru manages, feeling the binding magic beneath him fading as he raises his arms to Scharhrot's chest. It means nothing, as Satoru doesn't have the strength to push the vampire away, but he does it nonetheless. "We can't… become monsters again— _Schar...hrot._ "

Scharhrot licks the wound on Satoru's neck and pulls away, giving Satoru a flicker of hope that his words reached him, but he then dives in again, this time pushing Satoru's shirt aside to bite between his neck and his shoulder.

"It's okay," Gastille soothes, "You aren't monsters. You're disciples of the Lord. Perhaps you'll die together as the world is silenced."

And, in the moment Satoru realizes he's given up, his world goes black.

 

* * *

 

Scharhrot awakens not as himself, but as Satoru, and with but one goal.

He looks to the man before him—Shiranui, in his own Vanguard, Kazumi Onimaru's skin—and flips his last drive check. A critical trigger, as expected.

The look of anguish on Shiranui's face is not from his impending loss, but from something Scharhrot cannot comprehend. It looks like pity, but there's no reason for it, as a disciple of Gyze himself. This was all Gyze's plan, after all.

"Will I…" Shiranui starts, "Will I never… feel relief?"

Scharhrot smiles. "Of course you will." Then, he lowers his voice to a whisper. "On the day of reckoning."

The incomprehensible emotion on Shiranui's face turns to a grimace, and he turns on his heel and walks away.

"Enishicchi… you did it!"

Scharhrot is hugged from behind by a girl who he recognizes as Satoru's teammate. He smiles again, gentler this time, and puts a hand on her head. "Of course. I will protect you all, no matter what."

_"What's this!? Kazumi Onimaru has, for the first time of this tournament, lost! With Team Diffrider's fate lying in Saori Fuchidaka's hands, how will the Second Stage—"_

Scharhrot tsks.

_How very loud._

**Author's Note:**

> [Everybody disliked that.]


End file.
